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Competition between Poets of Different Eras (Jidai fudō uta-awase-e)
Not on view
In this imaginary competition between poets of different eras, Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji, is pitted against the famous poet Ōshikōchi no Mitsune (859–925), a compiler of the first imperial poetry anthology, Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū, ca. 905). They are the pair on the far right. Mitsune died well before Murasaki was born, but the fanciful competition offers an appealing way to enjoy their famous verses, especially since poems composed expressly for fictional works like Genji were usually not included in imperially commissioned anthologies. An artful selection of anachronistic verses could elicit associative links and new ways of appreciating poetry, as in this rare set of handscrolls, which depict one hundred celebrated poets in brilliant color and three hundred poems brushed in elegant calligraphy.
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